Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Hello Everyone and welcome back to another Copic Oz Tutorial! Today I'm using this GORGEOUS new Flourishes set called Glamour Girls which is perfect for practicing your skin and hair techniques! Join me as I walk through step by step how to colour this fabulous girl with your Copic Markers!

Stamp your image in Memento Tuxedo Black onto X-press It Blending Card and then lay down a base colour of E000 for her skin.

Next I've decided that the light source is coming from the right hand side and added some shading with E01.

Lightly blend with E000 and then deepened the shading with E11.

Lightly blend with E01 and then add a little E93, I find this warms her up a little.

Lightly blend with E11 and E01 and E000. Now I want to deepen that shadow area, which means cooling down the shadow with a darker and usually bluish based colour. You could use BV00 or BV02, however I've chosen E70 for this image. You don't need to add a lot, so use a light hand!

You can see she now has more contrast and visual interest. Lightly blend by using the next lightest colours until you are happy with the result! At this stage you may think she looks a little dark, but wait until you finish colouring the rest of the image!

Next I'm going to colour her hair, giving her golden brown locks! Lay down a base colour of YR21.

Next add some E33 where the shadows would be, in this case on either side of her curls.

Next, deepen the shadows of her hair with E37, you don't need much so remember to have a light hand!

Lightly blend with your previous two colours until you are happy with the results and finish colouring your image in the colours of your choice! Here's a tip for the hat - did you notice the original stamping was a little patchy? To fix this, I've coloured in the hat with C7 Copic and voila - now it is perfectly black! :)

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Hi All - many Copic users often want to know whether they can use Copics with other mediums – the answer to that is YES (but its important that you understand how to use other mediums so you don’t damage your Copic). One of my favourite mediums is the Molotow One4All Paint Markers.

The One4All is a versatile acrylic based paint marker, which has a highly pigmented, solvent-free, hybrid-paint and just like the Copic Markers they are refillable and the nibs can be replaced.

So a few important things to note when combining your Copic Markers with other mediums, especially paints.

The nibs on Copic Markers are porous - this allows the ink to flow out of the nib - this also means that other mediums can be sucked into the nib like a sponge. Particularly harmful to the nibs are acrylic paints, chalky substances and glitter particles.

On sealed or glossy surfaces your Copics will appear several shades lighter than they do on paper (as they can't be absorbed) so always choose a colour several shades darker than you would normally use.

To be able to use your Copic Markers with mixed media, you will need to do one of following things:

Apply the Copics first BEFORE paint, pencil or any other mediums, so they won't become clogged. Works best when only adding small amounts of paint marker.

Have a few Copics that you use ONLY for mixed media work, and understand the nib may become blocked by repeated use over paint and you accept that you will need to periodically replace the nib.

Apply the Copic marker AFTER all other mediums and AFTER you have sealed the page with a gloss sealant. This is my favourite, it allows for a translucent glaze of colour and is a lot like working with Copics on acetate. For hard lines apply colour direct from fine or chisel tip, for softer lines I like to use either my Copic Blender to apply the colour or the brush tip on the marker (layering light next to dark until colour fades away) - think 'fade to white' technique when applying like this.

Now before I show you my Molotow One4All and Copic journal page, I thought I'd show you a few examples where I have used the Molotow markers with Copic Markers on cards, for those of you who aren't journalers.

Adding the glint of reflective light into the eyes of your Copic Coloured images,
I've used the White 1mm Molotow for this.

Stamp Flourishes Orchids stamp onto vellum using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. Flip image over and colour reverse side with Molotow Markers (let dry), I used 4mm white and 2mm Grasshopper.
Then flip and colour stamped side using Copic Markers, I used: G48, R81, RV55, Y32 & Y35.
This really makes the image pop on printed or coloured card, and I love the way you can see the background designs through the vellum.

Now for something a little more involved, this is the most beautiful way I know to combine Molotow One4All Paint markers and Copics, while keeping your Copics safe from paint. I have used:

Technique

Apply One4All Paint from 2mm markers in the following method - apply paint directly to image, while wet, smear with finger to create softer effects and translucent layers of colour.
NB: This won't work on unsealed paper.

Continue to apply colour with this method until the image is coloured to your satisfaction - mine looks like this.

Using 1mm Signal Black Molotow, add detail and outline to the image.

Use 1mm Signal White Molotow marker to add highlights (eg: to the eyes)

Add shading, a hint of glitter with Atyou Spica pens and a quote using Molotow 2mm and 1mm paint markers on the facing page. Seal with a gloss varnish.

Add Copic Markers over the top of the gloss varnish (this forms a layer like plastic, protecting your markers from whatever is underneath), apply the darker marker first and blend out with either lighter colours of Copic marker or your Colorless Blender.
Once all my Copic layers have been applied, my finished page looks like this, much deeper colour.

Now it's really difficult to show the amazingly gorgeous glaze effect achieved from the Copic Markers, but I'll try - compare the before and after photos.

Before

After

and closer, you can see each individual layer - even the tissue underneath. Honestly you will have to try this yourself to see how amazing it looks!

I hope this has given you a few ideas about how you can use your Copics and Molotow paint markers together,

About Copic Oz

CopicOz has been created specifically for papercrafters with a view to provide hints, tips and tutorials using primarily Copic products. Although this is an official blog of Copic Australia, the views and comments by the DT members do not necessarily reflect the views of X-Press Graph-X Supplies P/L.
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